Investigation sought by lawmakers, state education secretary
State Auditor General Jack Wagner is entering his fourth week of “reviewing” a request from state lawmakers for his office to investigate the School District of Philadelphia bidding and contracting operations.
A spokesman for Mr. Wagner could not explain what the office is examining.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia Superintendent Arlene Ackerman has sent a memo to district staffers telling them they may be suspended, fired or reported to “appropriate authorities” for revealing information about the district without authorization.
This raises the question of what is private in the administration of taxpayer-funded public school systems.
The memo comes after Ms. Ackerman suspended six administrators in the state’s largest public school district for possibly having leaked information about questionable bidding procedures to The Philadelphia Inquirer. The computer hard drives of those suspended are reportedly being examined for the school district by a private computer forensics team.
The employees are also part on an internal district investigation being done by the politically-wired Philadelphia law firm of Pepper Hamilton LLC.
State Rep. William Adolph (R-Delaware), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, wrote Mr. Wagner on Dec. 17 asking the auditor general’s office to look into a $7.5 million no-bid contract awarded by the school district and exposed in The Inquirer.
State Rep. Michael McGeehan (D-Philadelphia) and Acting Secretary of Education Thomas Gluck are also seeking an investigation of the school district’s bidding process and financial activities.
Mr. McGeehan has said he will also seek an expansion of the state “whistleblower” law that currently protects employees who report alleged wrongdoing to public authorities, but not to the news media.
The $7.5 million, no-bid contract for school security was awarded to IBS Communications, a minority-owned firm in Mount Airy in northwest Philadelphia.
The School District of Philadelphia is facing a shortfall of over $400 million in its current $3.2 billion operating budget. State taxpayers put up about $1.7 billion of that budget this year.
